One 77-year-old’s search for the truth: 9/11, election fraud, illegal wars, Wall Street criminality, a stolen nuke, the neocon wars, control of the U.S. government by global corporations, the unjustified assault on Social Security, media complicity, and the "Great Recession" about to become the second Great Depression. "The most important truths are hidden from us by the powerful few who strive to steal the American dream by keeping We the People in the dark."

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

FEDERAL CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST LAWS GOVERN THE BEHAVIOR OF ALL FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ...EXCEPT EVIDENTLY FOR THOSE WHOSE CONFLICTS REALLY, REALLY ENRICH THEMSELVES AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE. EVERY ONE OF THE 33 YEARS DURING WHICH I WAS A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE I RECEIVED ETHICS TRAINING AND WAS REQUIRED, FOR EXAMPLE, TO DISCLOSE ALL THE STOCKS THAT I OWNED. ONE TIME I WAS CAUTIONED NOT TO SPEND GOVERNMENT MONEY ON DEVICES FROM TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, GIVEN MY (SMALL) POSITION IN TI STOCK. BY CONTRAST, BIG-BANK CEOS NOW ROUTINELY SERVE AS REGIONAL FEDERAL RESERVE BANK DIRECTORS, WHERE THEY HAVE THE IMPUNITY TO DIRECT BILLIONS OF FEDERAL DOLLARS TO THEIR OWN BANKS ...SOME OF WHICH END UP IN THEIR OWN POCKETS. WHILE DISCIPLINARY ACTION MIGHT HAVE BEEN TAKEN AGAINST ME FOR AN "APPARENT" CONFLICT OF INTEREST, THE BANKSTER-FED-DIRECTORS' *REAL* TRANSGRESSIONS ARE APPARENTLY TOO BIG TO ASSAIL.

Sanders Releases Explosive Bailout List

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News

13 June 2012

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than $4 trillion in near zero-interest Federal Reserve loans and other
financial assistance went to the banks and businesses of at least 18
current and former Federal Reserve regional bank directors in the
aftermath of the 2008 financial collapse, according to Government
Accountability Office records made public for the first time today by
Sen. Bernie Sanders.

On the eve of Senate testimony by JPMorgan Chase CEO
Jamie Dimon, Sanders (I-Vt.) released the detailed findings on Dimon
and other Fed board members whose banks and businesses benefited from
Fed actions.

"This report reveals the inherent conflicts of
interest that exist at the Federal Reserve. At a time when small
businesses could not get affordable loans to create jobs, the Fed was
providing trillions in secret loans to some of the largest banks and
corporations in America that were well represented on the boards of the
Federal Reserve Banks. These conflicts must end," Sanders said.

The GAO study found that allowing members of the
banking industry to both elect and serve on the Federal Reserve's board
of directors creates "an appearance of a conflict of interest" and
poses "reputational risks" to the Federal Reserve System.

In Dimon's case, JPMorgan received some $391 billion
of the $4 trillion in emergency Fed funds at the same time his bank was
used by the Fed as a clearinghouse for emergency lending programs. In
March of 2008, the Fed provided JPMorgan with $29 billion in financing
to acquire Bear Stearns. Dimon also got the Fed to provide JPMorgan
Chase with an 18-month exemption from risk-based leverage and capital
requirements. And he convinced the Fed to take risky mortgage-related
assets off of Bear Stearns balance sheet before JP Morgan Chase acquired
the troubled investment bank.

Another high-profile conflict involved Stephen
Friedman, the former chairman of the New York Fed's board of directors.
Late in 2008, the New York Fed approved an application from Goldman
Sachs to become a bank holding company giving it access to cheap loans
from the Federal Reserve. During that period, Friedman sat on the
Goldman Sachs board. He also owned Goldman stock, something that was
prohibited by Federal Reserve conflict of interest regulations.
Although it was not publicly disclosed at the time, Friedman received a
waiver from the Fed's conflict of interest rules in late 2008.
Unbeknownst to the Fed, Friedman continued to purchase shares in
Goldman from November 2008 through January of 2009, according to the
GAO.

In another case, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt
was a New York Fed board member at the same time GE helped create a
Commercial Paper Funding Facility during the financial crisis. The Fed
later provided $16 billion in financing to GE under this emergency
lending program.

Sanders on May 22 introduced legislation to prohibit banking industry and business executives from serving as directors of the 12 Federal Reserve regional banks.

Jamie Dimon Is Not Alone

During the financial crisis, at least 18 former and
current directors from Federal Reserve Banks worked in banks and
corporations that collectively received over $4 trillion in low-interest
loans from the Federal Reserve.

US Senator Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) Washington, DC June 12, 2012

Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has served on
the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since
2007. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with
$391 billion in total financial assistance. JP Morgan Chase was also
used by the Fed as a clearinghouse for the Fed's emergency lending
programs.

In March of 2008, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase
with $29 billion in financing to acquire Bear Stearns. During the
financial crisis, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with an 18-month
exemption from risk-based leverage and capital requirements. The Fed
also agreed to take risky mortgage-related assets off of Bear Stearns
balance sheet before JP Morgan Chase acquired this troubled investment
bank.

Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, served on the New York
Fed's Board of Directors from 2006-2011. General Electric received $16
billion in low-interest financing from the Federal Reserve’s Commercial
Paper Funding Facility during this time period.

Stephen Friedman. In 2008, the New York Fed approved an application
from Goldman Sachs to become a bank holding company giving it access to
cheap Fed loans. During the same period, Friedman, who was chairman of
the New York Fed at the time, sat on the Goldman Sachs board of
directors and owned Goldman stock, something the Fed’s rules prohibited.
He received a waiver in late 2008 that was not made public. After
Friedman received the waiver, he continued to purchase stock in Goldman
from November 2008 through January of 2009 unbeknownst to the Fed,
according to the GAO. During the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs
received $814 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

Sanford Weill, the former CEO of Citigroup, served on the Fed's
Board of Directors in New York in 2006. During the financial crisis,
Citigroup received over $2.5 trillion in total financial assistance from
the Fed.

Richard Fuld, Jr, the former CEO of Lehman Brothers, served on the
Fed's Board of Directors in New York from 2006 to 2008. During the
financial crisis, the Fed provided $183 billion in total financial
assistance to Lehman before it collapsed.

James M. Wells, the Chairman and CEO of SunTrust Banks, has served
on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta since
2008. During the financial crisis, SunTrust received $7.5 billion in
total financial assistance from the Fed.

Richard Carrion, the head of Popular Inc. in Puerto Rico, has served
on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since
2008. Popular received $1.2 billion in total financing from the Fed's
Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.

James Smith, the Chairman and CEO of Webster Bank, served on the
Federal Reserve's Board of Directors in Boston from 2008-2010. Webster
Bank received $550 million in total financing from the Federal Reserve's
Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.

Ted Cecala, the former Chairman and CEO of Wilmington Trust, served
on the Fed's Board of Directors in Philadelphia from 2008-2010.
Wilmington Trust received $3.2 billion in total financial assistance
from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.

Robert Jones, the President and CEO of Old National Bancorp, has
served on the Fed's Board of Directors in St. Louis since 2008. Old
National Bancorp received a total of $550 million in low-interest loans
from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility during the financial
crisis.

James Rohr, the Chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group,
served on the Fed's Board of Directors in Cleveland from 2008-2010. PNC
received $6.5 billion in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve
during the financial crisis.

George Fisk, the CEO of LegacyTexas Group, was a director at the
Dallas Federal Reserve in 2009. During the financial crisis, his firm
received a $5 million low-interest loan from the Federal Reserve's Term
Auction Facility.

Dennis Kuester, the former CEO of Marshall & Ilsley, served as a
board director on the Chicago Federal Reserve from 2007-2008. During
the financial crisis, his bank received over $21 billion in low-interest
loans from the Fed.

George Jones, Jr., the CEO of Texas Capital Bank, has served as a
board director at the Dallas Federal Reserve since 2009. During the
financial crisis, his bank received $2.3 billion in total financing from
the Fed's Term Auction Facility.

Douglas Morrison, was the Chief Financial Officer at CitiBank in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while he served as a board director at the
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank in 2006. During the financial crisis,
CitiBank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota received over $21 billion in total
financing from the Federal Reserve.

L. Phillip Humann, the former CEO of SunTrust Banks, served on the
Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta from
2006-2008. During the financial crisis, SunTrust received $7.5 billion
in total financial assistance from the Fed.

Henry Meyer, III, the former CEO of KeyCorp, served on the Board of
Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland from 2006-2007.
During the financial crisis, KeyBank (owned by KeyCorp) received over
$40 billion in total financing from the Federal Reserve.

Ronald Logue, the former CEO of State Street Corporation, served as a
board member of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank from 2006-2007. During
the financial crisis, State Street Corporation received a total of $42
billion in financing from the Federal Reserve.

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About Me

B.S. in Physics, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1960 Ph.D. in Physics, Brown University, 1966. Fellow, American Physical
Society. Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Fellow, American Ceramic Society. Member, Geological Society of America, Research Physicist at Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC,
1967-2001. Fulbright-García Robles Fellow at Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, 1997. Invited Professor of Research at Universités
de Paris-6 & 7, Lyon-1, et St-Etienne (France) and Tokyo Institute
of Technology, 2000-2004. Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Arizona, 2004-2005. Consultancy: impactGlass
research international, 2005-present.
Winner, one national and two international research awards and honored
by Brown University with a "Distinguished Graduate School Alumnus
Award." Author, 198 papers in peer-reviewed journals and books, Principal Author of 114 of these.